Her touch caused the door to swing inward a few inches, creaking, and she noticed the latch was broken, almost as though someone had forced it open. She pushed the door open a few more inches. “Is anyone home?” Keeping her hand on the side of the door, she opened it the rest of the way and stepped inside.
The dirty windows let in only a bare minimum of light. Leia waited until her eyes adjusted to the dimness. Once she could see, she let her gaze sweep the room as she moved across the floor. A sudden flurry of movement made her jump, but it was just a family of mongooses who raced for the safety of an old sleeping bag heaped in a corner. A battered Coleman cooler stood open in the middle of the room. She glanced inside but only saw a dirty plastic bag that looked as though it had been chewed by the mongooses.
Another sleeping bag lay on the other side of the cooler. If Ku lived here, he ate and slept like any other human. She squinted in the dim light at a heap of clothing in another corner. Approaching it, she realized it wasn’t clothing but diving gear. The deep-sea suit was state-of-the-art and looked like it hadn’t been here long. Nothing had chewed on it or disturbed it.
She hefted the helmet in her hand. Could this be Koma’s Ku? He’d never left the leper colony, so the sight of a deep-sea diver might look like an ancient god. She would have to show it to him and see if the creature he saw might have been an ordinary diver. Dropping the helmet back onto the suit, she turned to go. Something about this place made chicken skin rise along her back and arms, and she couldn’t leave the cabin behind too soon.
Eva sat on the bench and pawed through the stuff in her Big Bird backpack for a Take 5 candy bar. She opened the wrap-ping and bit into it as she watched the children playing on the schoolyard. She wished she wasn’t too old to still go to school, even if the kids had been mean to her sometimes. It was more fun than working at ARC, the Association of Retarded Citizens. She liked the thought of being a citizen, but she hated it when people called her retarded, especially when her mother was around. Her mother’s eyes got all squinty and sad. Eva didn’t like it when her mom was sad.
Work was over for the day though, and she could go home and watch Home Alone as she did most afternoons. She was supposed to go right home after work, but she was reluctant to leave the sunshine. Her sister and her cousin might be at the house, and they were usually doing boring stuff like making leis or kapa. Eva had tried to get interested in both, but her thick fingers couldn’t seem to make the pretty things. She stuffed her candy wrapper into the backpack and saw a man walk across the grass toward her. Hotshot had said he’d meet her here, but she thought maybe he’d forgotten. His smile always made her happy, and he was smiling now.
“I brought you a present,” he said. He held out his hand. A pocketknife inlaid with red coral lay in his palm.
Eva clapped her hands together. “For me?”
“I saw it and thought you’d like it. It has a honu on it, see?” He pointed out the tiny bone turtle on the handle.
She gently picked it up out of his hand. That was one thing she liked about Hotshot—he never acted like she was damaged. Her mother wouldn’t let her touch a knife in the kitchen. “Do I get to keep it?” The knife felt good in her hand—smooth and strong.
“Yep, it’s all yours. Hey, you want to go for a shave ice?” He held out his hand to help her up.
“I brought money.” She clutched the Roxy wallet Leia had gotten her for her birthday. It had a red hibiscus on the front. Red was Eva’s favorite color.
“It’s my treat.” He was smiling as he watched her.
Hotshot’s eyes always made her feel like her feet were too big or something, and she didn’t know why. He was an interesting person and had been places like Alaska and Mexico. She liked to hear him talk about all the things he’d seen. She walked beside him as he led the way to the shave-ice stand.
“Your dad seems kind of quiet lately. Is he all right?” Hotshot took her arm and guided her through the trees. “Let’s go this way. We don’t want anyone to see us and make you go home.”
She nodded and moved the way he indicated. No way did she want someone butting in. She clutched the knife in her hand. “He’s been sad since he got fired. It wasn’t his fault though. I don’t know why the thief had to break into my dad’s museum. It’s mean to take things.”
“We all know it wasn’t his fault. You’re a good daughter to be so concerned about him. The sleds he makes are very interesting. I’d like to look at one.”
“I could take you to his workshop and show you.” She nearly bounced on the balls of her feet.
“Maybe you could get one and bring it to me to look at. I wouldn’t want to bother your dad.”
“I could do that. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“You go buy the ices, and I’ll wait here.” Hotshot gave her some cash and stepped back into the trees.
Eva swelled with pride that he trusted her with his money. She hurried to the stand with it clutched in her hand.
The cemetery overlook offered a great view of Maui and Lana’i across the channel. The warm breeze, heavy with the scent of the wood rose that climbed the crumbling brick walls, riffled Leia’s hair, and she craned her neck to catch a bit of fragrant air on her face. Everyone on the island had turned out for Tony’s funeral, and she half expected the building’s walls to bulge and burst any minute.
She hadn’t seen Bane in three days, and she told herself she wasn’t watching for him as she scanned the sea of faces around the casket suspended over the hole. She hoped he was dealing okay with Tony’s death. Candace stood shaking hands and receiving consoling hugs as the mourners filed past her. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and she hadn’t bothered with makeup—not that it mattered, Leia thought, gazing into Candace’s lovely, haunted face.
Leia was in line with the other divers who had gone down with Tony the day he died. She eyed the fifty-something couple in front of her and mentally composed a question.
“I can’t believe he’s dead.” Rae shifted from one slippered foot to the other. “He had such an impact on us. I still keep expecting to hear his big laugh and see him on the boat with the wind in his face.”
“The police have been talking to everyone who was there when Tony died,” Eric blurted. “You don’t think they suspect murder, do you? I don’t see how it could be anything but a weird accident.”
Leia forgot her question. “I had a message from Detective Ono in Maui on my answering machine several days ago and called him back, but he was out. I haven’t heard back from him.”
“With a name like that, I bet the detective gets teased a lot,” Shaina said. “Doesn’t ono mean delicious?”
“Or fish.” Rae smiled. “Maybe that’s why he’s such a jokester,” Rae said. “He was more interested in telling jokes than asking me questions.”
“He’s an oh no, all right,” Jermaine said, standing behind Leia. “He called me too, but I’m not staying on the island while he takes his time figuring it out. I’ve got a singing gig in Vegas next month. This is my big break to escape this dullsville island. Tony was a great guy and all, but I can’t miss out on it because he was murdered. He’d want me to go.”
Why do you say murdered ? Did the cop say the death was suspicious?” Leia asked. She had always liked Jermaine. He was about Eva’s age and had gone to school with her. Eva had adored him ever since he’d defended her in a schoolyard bullying session.
“He’s acting like it.” Jermaine fingered the gold clock guitar around his neck.
“That’s ludicrous.” Shaina Levy bit her lip, and her voice rose. “Ono is just a small-town bureaucrat trying to act important. It was an accident.”
“I can’t imagine the investigation would take long. It seemed to clearly be an accident,” Rae Jardin said. She tugged self-consciously at the red shirt she wore that did nothing for her short, plump figure.
Leia wondered if she realized it was an insult to wear red to an Italian funeral. Probably not, she decided. The couple was too nice to
deliberately show disrespect to the dead. “I suppose I’d better try Detective Ono again when I can get to a phone.”
“You can use my cell,” Eric said, tugging the clip free from his belt. “I have a plan where there’s no roaming charge.”
“Mahalo no. I hate cell phones. They cause acoustic neuroma,” Leia said.
Eric’s mouth dropped. “What on earth is that? Are you sure?” He glanced at the phone in his hand, then clipped it back on his belt.
“It’s suspicious but not proven,” Leia admitted. “Acoustic neuroma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the nerves near the inner ear. Better safe than sorry. Besides, the call will wait until this is over.” She caught sight of Bane’s familiar dark head. Her initial reaction was to hunch down out of sight, but she forced herself to stand still.
She watched him embrace Candace and murmur a few words of condolence. Leia’s fingers curled into her palms, and she told herself not to be a child. Still, Candace was a widow now, and it would be natural for her to turn to Tony’s best friend for comfort. Bane was a free man, and Leia had no claim on him anymore—if she ever had. She’d thought she was emotionally free of him too, but his sudden reappearance on the island had shown her how foolish that belief had been. Seeing him again was like free-falling off a cliff into a bottomless blue hole.
Dirk Forsythe joined them. “Can I cut in? I need to get back to the shop, and the line looks an hour long.”
“Sure.” Shaina stepped back to allow him to crowd in behind Leia.
At nearly six-four, he towered over everyone but Leia. He’d always made her think of a blond Sylvester Stallone, and she expected him to drop to the ground and start doing one-armed push-ups any minute. He turned his languorous, heavy-lidded gaze on Shaina, and the other woman became visibly flustered. Leia had to bite her lip hard to keep from warning the woman that Dirk’s attention was merely polite. He talked about his fiancée back on O’ahu all the time, and no woman seemed to tempt him to stray. She admired that.
“How’s Candace doing?” Leia asked him. Maybe she could distract him long enough for Shaina to recover her wits. Dirk was too attractive for his own good. He didn’t seem to have any idea how he made a woman’s heart go pitter-patter.
Dirk shrugged. “You’d know that better than me. I’m sure she’ll be fine. The dive shop is worth some money, and it’s booming with business.”
“I meant emotionally,” she said dryly. Men could be so obtuse. “They were newlyweds. I thought maybe you’d checked on her.”
“Tony’s parents are in town. I didn’t want to intrude. Besides, I thought I’d be able to help more by keeping things running smoothly at the shop. I’ll do all I can to help, of course.”
“I’m sure she’s thankful you’re doing that.” Her gaze wandered to Bane again as he moved past Candace and turned to go. Her gaze met his, and he half raised his hand, then came toward her.
“I suppose you’ve all gotten calls from Ono?” Bane’s gaze swept the group again as everyone nodded. “You realize we’re all going to be under suspicion if Tony’s death is deemed a murder, don’t you?”
Shaina straightened, and her bushy hair bounced as she shook her finger at him. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Tony was our friend. None of us would hurt him.”
“I wish I’d been down there,” Dirk said. “Maybe I could have saved him.”
Bane colored slightly. “It all happened so fast. You know how it is underwater. None of us saw anything suspicious.”
Leia examined the faces of the other divers. Could one of them be a murderer? “The police have to know it couldn’t have been one of us,” she said. “Anyone could have seen the dive boat out there and realized he was down. Another diver could have attacked him.”
“Who was his buddy?” Jermaine demanded.
“I was,” Leia said. “But I was looking at the coral, and he signaled that he’d be right back, then he swam into the cave.”
“He knew better than to go into a cave alone,” Rae said.
“Apparently not,” Dirk said. “Then what happened, Leia?”
“I don’t know. I just remember Bane pointing to Tony shooting to the surface. We all swam up and found out what happened. I never saw a thing.”
“No divers you didn’t recognize or any other kind of disturbance?” Bane asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing. This isn’t your problem, Bane,” Leia told him. “You always think it’s your job to take care of every-thing. Let the police handle it.”
“Tony was my best friend. He gave me a job when I needed to help support my family, he pulled me from the waves when I got knocked from the boat and hit my head on the side—he would expect me to be there for his family. I’m not going to turn my back on him now.”
“I’m not asking you to. But let Ono handle it.”
“He can use all the help he can get. I know Tony better than he does. He won’t turn down any leads I can come up with.”
Leia knew he was right about that. Murder wasn’t an everyday occurrence on the tiny island. “I’ll see what Dr. Kapuy has to say. He would have looked at Tony’s body before it was sent to Honolulu for the autopsy.” She was next in line to talk to Candace. The person ahead of her stepped away, and Leia moved up to face the young widow. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured. She embraced Candace, and the other woman clung to her.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without him,” Candace whispered in her ear.
“Are you doing okay? Any cramps or anything?”
Candace wiped her eyes. Her eyes were so red and swollen they looked painful. “I’m fine physically. I have to tell his parents about the baby.”
“They’ll be thrilled.” Leia’s gaze went down the line to where Alfredo and Carlotta Romero stood. Carlotta had wailed her misery at the funeral, and Alfredo had taken her from the church. She stood sobbing against her husband’s shoulder and kept mopping at her face with a soggy handkerchief.
“I don’t think so. They never thought I was good enough for Tony. Working in Hollywood tainted me in their eyes. They’ll probably wonder if the baby is even Tony’s.” Tears welled in Candace’s eyes again. Tony always bragged that she could have made it big in the movies if she hadn’t married him, but Leia didn’t think Candace had enough drive or a hard enough edge to get to the big time. She’d done a few commercials, most notably one for Nike. Leia had seen it a few times, and Candace had done a good job, but she was no Julia Roberts. And she hadn’t acted in years. Her last job had been as a receptionist for a security company on O’ahu.
“Having a baby will change everything,” Leia told her. “Tony’s parents won’t want to alienate you or their grandchild.”
“They’ve taken charge of everything this week. Alfredo pulled strings to get the autopsy completed and Tony’s body released right away. But they haven’t said two words to me.”
Bane touched her arm. “They’ll come around when they hear the news. A new baby is like witnessing the creation of the world.”
Hearing the profound thought, Leia glanced up at him. Sometimes his almost poetic way with words surprised her. “When will the results of the autopsy be back?”
“Another week or so,” Candace said.
Leia squeezed her hand. “I’d better move along. The line is getting longer.” As she moved away, she caught sight of Aberg Hans. She hadn’t expected him to show his face. He stood off to one side, his eyes wide and uncertain as though he might bolt for his car any minute. Leia moved toward him. He saw her coming and looked away. She stopped in front of him. “I’m a little surprised to see you here, Aberg,” she told him.
“I’m here to pay my respects just like all of you. Tony and I had our professional differences, but I wouldn’t hurt him,” he said. “I know that’s what people think.”
“You threatened him just before he died,” she pointed out. “It sounds like you’d sabotaged his air tanks too.”
His gaze fell. “That�
�s a lie. I never did anything to his equipment.” His voice wavered.
From the way he shuffled around and wouldn’t meet her gaze, his guilt was not in question. “Were you diving in the area, Aberg?”
His head jerked up, and he began to glower. “I don’t have to answer any questions. I’m just here to pay my respects. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get in line.” He stalked off. Instead of getting in line, he vanished through the door to the outside. Leia wondered why he’d even come.
Six
Life moved at a sluggish pace in Kaunakakai. On the southern shore of Moloka’i, it was the largest of the tiny burgs that had sprung up around the pineapple and sugarcane trade in the old days. With no buildings over three stories, no traffic—or traffic lights, for that matter—it was Bane’s favorite town in all the Hawaiian islands. No nightclubs or fast food, just a friendly little town full of native Hawaiians. Bane wouldn’t mind living here someday.
He stopped at the tiny police station and answered the detective’s questions about Tony’s death, though he didn’t feel he had anything helpful to offer. When he was done, he drove through town in his rental car and headed for the wharf. Ajax sat beside him with his head hanging out the window. Bane wasn’t sure where Hans Dive Shop was located, but it had to be here somewhere. Aberg’s appearance at Tony’s funeral yesterday had raised more questions in his mind.
Bane parked. “Stay here, boy. Keep watch.” Ajax whined but stayed where he was. Bane walked past the few boats bobbing in the harbor waves. The ferry was just offshore, having disgorged its few visitors onto the island, and now chugged its way back across the waves toward Lana’i.
He saw a boat with the dive shop’s name painted on the side and paused to see if anyone was aboard. He wanted to find Hans himself. The deck looked deserted, and it was after three, so most likely the day’s diving was done. The trade winds blew along Moloka’i with greater ferocity than the other islands, and the unprotected waters took the brunt, churning up large swells outside the reef. Most of the divemasters would be hawking wares in their stores by now.
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